Main litigants meet to solve Ayodhya tangle

AYODHYA: In a fresh move to reach a negotiated settlement for the vexed Ayodhya temple issue, main litigants from both Hindu and Muslim sides met at Hanuman Garhi to find a solution to the title suit at present pending before the Supreme Court. While there have been isolated efforts to initiate a dialogue on the issue in the past, this is probably for the first time that the main litigants have sat together to unknot the tangle.
There were four out of five litigants from the Hindu side and two out of six from the Muslim side at the meeting. The Hindu side was led by Swami Chakrapani, the chief of All-India Hindu Mahasabha and the main litigant pleading the claim of Ramjanmabhoomi in the Supreme Court. The Muslim side was led by the oldest litigant in the case, Mohammad Hashim Ansari.
Senior High Court lawyer and convener of All India Babri Masjid Action Committee (AIBMAC) Zafaryab Jilani, talking to TOI on phone from Aligarh on Friday evening said he had full faith in Ansari and efforts made by him. “I am not aware about the details of the meeting but I am sure Hashim Ansari will do nothing that goes against the interest of the Muslims in the case,” said Jilani, who is also the member of the executive committee of All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB).
The Hindu delegation included litigants Mahant Dharam Das, Ramesh Chandra Tripathi and Ranjeet Laal Varma, the counsel of Nirmohi Akhara. On the Muslim side, Ansari’s son, his legal representative Iqbal Ansari and Khaliq Ahmad Khan joined Hashim in the bilateral talks.
After the meeting, Chakrapani said: “Muslims have never opposed the construction Ram temple in Ayodhya, nor do they have any enmity with the Hindu community. VHP has created wide gaps between both communities only for power. VHP leaders were never interested in construction of Ram temple, they were only after power and money.”
Khaliq Ahmad Khan, a litigant from the Babri Masjid side, said, “We support the move of Swami Chakrapani, and we hope the negotiation draft that would soon be finalised to house both the temple and the mosque at the disputed site.”
Pleading the case as appellant No. 2336 in the Supreme Court, Swami Chakrapani said, “Today was a historical moment as we have all agreed to solve the dispute peacefully. We have started making a proposal to end the dispute.”
Iqbal Ansari, a representative of Hashim Ansari, said, “It will be the best negotiated settlement plan as it will include both temple and mosque.”